Matt

Why do people keep saying this? Just because we haven't spent hundreds of millions on players, the conclusion is that MA is somehow fiddling the numbers? As if he's not proven himself to be a dreadful custodian of the club without the need to invent some squirrelling away of incoming cashflows. And FWIW, SD's recent misadventures have not cost MA a bean in terms of cash.

There seems to be some kind of narcissistic disorder among part of the fan base whereby any development relating to the club must somehow revolve around them and their opinion.

The story goes that Armstrong didn't give players with one-year options the letter confirming they'd be taken up or the letters confirming non-contract players would be retained, presumably because he was already going to Darlo and that made it easier for him to re-sign them one he popped up there. In terms of fixtures, unlike the NPL- where clubs volunteer Christmas / Easter fixtures to the league by mutual agreement then other games are fitted around those, the Conference just mandate a double header at Christmas and NY. I don't think they even do anything special for Bank Holiday games.

Does a deadline even mean anything? Or is it an issue for those on the price freezes?

Blyth's travelling next season will probably be the lowest in years. There will always be a few long treks, but getting as many shorter journeys makes a huge difference, especially when it comes to rearranged games due to weather / cup clashes which always pile up as the season goes on.

Of course without this story surfacing, he'd have been forced to give Rafa a contract and sign a load of players just so people on the internet wouldn't get the hump for an extra three weeks.

How refreshing for the NL1 to have several sides actively seeking promotion, rather than treating it like some kind of kryptonite.

It's a very competitive division. They have no team to start with, so survival at that level will be the main aim.

I've always felt that him being a willing seller was utter BS though (stated purely to ease tensions with the fans)... even if he scooped 350M from the sale, that's nothing compared to the meagre funds he outlays on the club vs all the TV money, free SD advertising, player sales etc. over the long-term. We've never been anything more than a SD advertising vehicle and a steady stream of proven income in his eyes. I'm definitely not banking on anything until it's official like. This is what gets me also. He took £33 million out of the club less than 18 months ago, plus free advertising, some money from our merchandising and god knows what else. He hasn't reduced the price by £33 million though, notice that. Why would you sell? You'd gamble on staying up and taking more money out surely (if you are a selfish cunt that is). I've been as cynical as anyone about this whole thing I'll admit, however at least it would appear as if we have a willing buyer. Although we've been here before and it hasn't come to anything. I really want this to be different but I still can't believe until it's official either. Rafa and new owners who aren't a disaster is still a dream to me. And it's the first chunk of cash he's been able to get his hands on in years. At the current rate, it will be a long time before he gets to £350m and he knows that the squad needs investment meanwhile his main business venture is having its own problems which no doubt MA will want to be hands on with. It's an ideal time to sell. As for the other stuff, even if the outsourcing of the NUFC retail was bent in favour of SD (and there's no real reason to do that) it's absolute buttons compared to the cash that comes in from the TV deal.

You do not want to know. Just enjoy the takeover bath.

As a lawyer, KYC can frankly piss off. Shouldn't be a lawyer's responsibility to spoonfeed that shit. Shouldn't even touch our desks. I'm on the banking side, so we don't get much choice.

Honestly, I wish they would always do that. Trying to validate a beneficial ownership chain in 24 hours before closing is pretty much impossible.

Also helps players with their welfare, for a lot of them it's their first experiences of being away from home for a long time.

People generally don't incorporate in these circumstances until they need to. I've worked in plenty of processes where the binding bid document simply refers in general terms to 'a UK limited company, to be incorporated in due course' because it saves the hassle of setting one up and then closing it all back down again if the other conditions of the sale are not fulfilled.

When the entity is a newco, would the lawyers still run the insolvency checks on the morning of completion? I'm guessing they need to have at least been incorporated the day before to allow a clean search.

We don't know who is acting for who and in any case, this is an administrative part of the process so really doesn't matter whose lawyers file the papers. I suspect this means F&P has been cleared.

Also, the faker also happens to know Midhat's full name?

It doesn't take very long, acquisition vehicles are often only registered at the last minute and often the day before the closing and funding of an acquisition. IMO this is the strongest indicator to date that the deal is done.

It's legit. The articles have been drawn up by Pinsents (using their logo) and the shareholder is shown as Bin Zayed Investments LLC. No one would go to such lengths for a laugh (which could of course land you in prison)

So the Don pays £37m (mostly on tick from Short), uses money from the parachute payments to pay most of that back, fails to get promoted and sells his stake for more than he paid for it? Bloke's a genius.

Tbh, it makes no difference. They are agreeing to pay X million either way, call it a profit on the shares in the club or buying back the land, all ends up in the same place. I just hope the buyers are smart enough to buy the godawful project and kill it off.

If contracts have been signed as the Sun journo suggests, then Ashley's role in this is legally over. Proof of funds is irrelevant, that's way in the past. All that will be left is for the conditions precedent (such as the F&P test being confirmed by the PL) being complete, that's all very common. MA can't just change his mind. You're misreading my post. And you might be misreading what the Sun journey wrote also...what type of contract do you think he means has been sent? They are not normally legally binding on the terms. And I know you have every faith in Mike Ashley to act with integrity and all that, but I don't. Have I entered a parallel universe here? A contract (I'm assuming the journo is referring to a sale & purchase agreement) will be very much binding on terms, otherwise what sort of contract is it? If you don't fulfil your end of the bargain then there are consequences. There will be a schedule to the contract outlining what still needs to happen for the contract to become effective and this is certainly include passing the FA tests.

If contracts have been signed as the Sun journo suggests, then Ashley's role in this is legally over. Proof of funds is irrelevant, that's way in the past. All that will be left is for the conditions precedent (such as the F&P test being confirmed by the PL) being complete, that's all very common. MA can't just change his mind.

I think they're appealing their demotion but if it doesn't come off, I think so aye. Will be up to the FA, not a given that they would drop into the NPL. As they aren't being relegated, they may have to start in the bottom level of the NPL so in the same league as Marske but one below S Shields and Morpeth

Interesting. Ashley is scrambling around for money for some reason. Hopefully this will not negatively impact any necessity to sell us. Unlike in a sale of NUFC, Ashley won't get the proceeds of the warehouse sale and leaseback though- they'll most likely sit in SD and provide some more cash buffer after the acquisition spree of the last couple of years. SD haven't paid a dividend out in years.